The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1887-07-29
Yha YacQl.
Farmers Wants From the Govern

Farmers Wants From the Govern
TSpoech of Hon A. j. Streeter at Lake Eluf, July
Before We can determine what the
farmers of Illinois and Of the great
Northwest want Of the government, we
should FIRST look at their condition and
sec wha. they need. il anything. If
they arc prosperous and happy then
they may not want anything VI the
government. Like u good physician
we should examine their condition, feel
Of their pulse, so to speak, before we
prescribe what is needed, speak from
the standpoint Of a farmer. Ii is uni
yersslIy conceded, SO far as I kn2w,
that Ill nois, is the grandost agricultural
State in the Union. The marvellous
richness OF her soil, the broad expanso
CT her pralries, purpose]y prepared by
the hand of the Creator Of all; and in
the best possible manner for the. plow,
the cultiyator. and the harvester. Tl!;.
nois has produced more corn, wheat.
oats, grass and live stock, than any
other State in the Z nion. Her mines
and ranufactorics abound at ell con-
vonient points. Illinois, thcn, holds
over every other State in all the Gle
,uents of material wealth; and other
things being equal. her farmers should
be pilng up wealth beyond that Of any
other people. How happy they should
be! Do they want anything from tie
government? Let US sec. You know
that farmers are called chronic gcum-
blers, and fear, If l should give you
the facts, that purpose to present
IA my own language, you would say
that too. am grunbler. To avoid
this charge, will let those who compile
statistics, state the farmers condition.
(! First, then, here is book entitled,
'.'rhc future Of Chicago and Illinois.
Compiled for the Daily Ne,os." On
page fourteen there is map Of the
State by counties, giving the increase
or decrease of population in the several
counties between 1880 and 1886, .
period of FIVE years. Upon this map
fad eight counties that show, as The
author denominstss it, q "L ormal gain"
and seven other counties, namely, Cook.
IGrundy, Jackson, Jasper, Kane, VIII
and Winnebago show real gain in fgc
years; all others loss. These which
show gains have either city or suburban
towns situated within them. Every
agricultural county shows loss in pop
uIation. And on another page the loss
by counties is given. Why is this?
The answer is, because farming has
| ceased to pay. The laws of emigration
are well nigh as fixed as the lava Of
nature. People move to better their
, oondition--the better TO support their
| IamiIies-is the governiog thought
Of en,igrants. If Illinois is net an ag-
rieultural State she is nothing; and yet,
it is true that her farming population
are leaving her rich psarios by The
thousands annually. Some one may
answer TO these facts, saying, tho farm.
ers are doing we'll enough, making
plenty Of money; look at The tall and
waving fields Of corn. It is only the
foolish ones, the dissatisfied and g.um,
blers who Ar, leaving farms | looked
at the waving corn, and asked myself is
this so? If | should reply in My own
language it might not be satisfactory;
the objector might say ! saw through
the coiored glass. So | must take up
statistics again-dry, stQbborn Stats
tics, though they be not desirable IN a
popular audience. What we want to
know is, does farming the rich prairie
OF Illinois pay? / hold it does net.
Chas f. Mills secretary and statisticiau
for the State Board Of Agriculture, is q
| worker Of ability, and in volume %,
page 272, Agricultural reports, | find
table Of figures, headed coru--the Lead
ing crop in Illinois, containing more
bushels, and representing more value
than all other tiliage crops combined.
This table gives the average Yield po7
acre, bushels proluood, price per bush
| CT, total value, cost Of producing az
aero, and thon columns for loss or prof,
on production cost cf crop. The table
iaclules each year from 1850 to 1855.
The cost of produing an acre of corn,
Mr.. Mills gives ut 5000, and this
amount, he informs me, Includes rental
OF land and taxes; and | believe this
amount tobe far average cost for
producing an acre. We find then for
the year 1882:
The corn crop was produced at !oss of 3 I278;gl
LOT geaE i5 ~ ~ = l"ss sG2I !l9
For year 1888 at loss of......,...... 1881 7UI
EoryGar 1855 at loss ot.,,r....., zee. 1870 .5J
Total loss in iiye So 337, 525
and two.thirds Of the farm that made
this loss mortgaged. Can these mort.
cages, to paid? Does farming in ILL
nois pay? Turning to page 259, same
report, [ find corn, wheat, cats, rye
" ere ill grown at loss for the year
1884. Hay, barley and Irish potatoes
alone showing profit above cost Of
production. These facts being true,